These are some notes I took on podcasting at last fall’s Podcamp Topeka. I “rediscovered” them, and decided they could be useful to some of you.

Rob Walch, who’s Vice President of Podcaster Relations for Wizzard Media/Libsyn and does the Today in iOS podcast, gave this presentation. Here are the notes – maybe more libraries need to start a podcast!

Some podcasting facts:

There are overÂ 1.8 million blogs, but only 200,000 podcasts

Podcasting is much easier to listen to now. You can still do it the old way – dump it to an iPod. But you can also use an app, download directly from iTunes to your iPod, or just listen on the web.

Podcasts have really loyal audiences – one podcast has listeners who are getting tattoos related to the podcast!

Audio is much more popular than video podcasts. Audio is much more portable.

iTunes and podcasting:

iTunes is really important to the success of a podcast

The podcast’s title is really important, especially in iTunes. Make sure to stuff keywords into the title, because that’s a primary keyword area for iTunes.

Artwork has to be great on iTunes. There are apparently two guys at Apple who pick featured podcasts for the podcast app, and they don’t pick bad artwork…

September 2012 podcasting stats from Libsyn (a major podcasting service):

Start with a wide net. Look at iTunes top-level categories. If you see other similar topics, don’t be discouraged. It might be a dead show, or itÂ might just mean lots of people want to listen.

Have a long-term plan. Use a whiteboard (me – or a mindmap, or a notebook, etc). Brainstorm and write down a subject. Then figure out your angles, figure out what your audience might want to know about it, etc. Write down future titles of posts…

How niche can you go?

Average podcast has about 40 listeners.

Improve or enhance a topic already covered.

Title: be descriptive! Bad – the John Smith podcast. Good – how to be awesome! So be descriptive and short. Easy to spell and understand. Avoid ambiguous words. Avoid accidental words. Always try to get the dot com version.

Choose a format:

solo or co-host? Figure it out.

Length and frequency… let the strength of your content determine the length of your show.

Audio or video? Both can work. Have fun and do what works for you. Video – more likely to be shared. iTunes is great, but Youtube is HUGE. People like to put a face to the voice. It’s also harder to edit, to set up, etc.

Ask this – does it need to be seen? Can you show it? If it’s audio-only, you need to remember that no one can see what you’re talking about. So you have to describe it.

1. There is power when your show has a narrow niche focus. The more focused on a niche you can be, the better. It will actually help you find a larger audience.

2. Only podcast about things for which you are passionate about.

3. Before you record your first episode, you should know why you are podcasting in the first place. Have a mission/purpose for your show. ANd – is a podcast the best medium for your message?

4. Become crystal clear on exactly who your target audience is! Imagine your occupation was that of a bounty hunter.

5. Build it and they will come does not, often, work in podcasting! Creating an amazing show is about 30% of the equation. The other 70% is marketing and relationship building. Go read the book “How to win friends and influence people.” Actually schedule time to promote your podcast, answer emails, etc.

6. You should submit your podcast directories like iTunes, Zune, Blackberry, and Stitcher Radio. Customize and brand those sites if you can. tweetadder.com – Cliff used this to follow 500 people a day that were interested in the topic his podcast focused on. You can do this manually too – just follow people that talk about the same things you are interested in. Cliff has some helpful info/submission tools on his podcast website.

7. Content is king! Create high value content that people can’t live without. It’s an added bonus if your content is so great that they are compelled to share it with others.

8. Entertainment goes a long way. Don’t be boring! Make your enthusiasm show through your voice.

9. Keep it positive. The world is seeking hope and encouragement. Give it to them! Sell hope – this keeps people coming back.

10. Be enthusiastic! Don’t do it more than what is natural for you though.

11. skipped this one

12. Audio quality is queen! Remember that there are times when the queen will trump the king! Many people will not listen to your great content if your audio quality is not that great. Both said don’t use USB mics of any type. Better to get a real mic, a mixer, etc and sound professional.

13. Build relationships with your audience! Learn the first name, last name, and a minimum of at least one other personal fact about as many of the people who download your show as possible. Wow.

14. Include the voice of your audience in your show.

15. Thank members of your community publicly, both in your show and in your online efforts. Give praise! DOn’t just focus on yourself.

16. Establish and build meaningful relationships with other content creators in your niche/industry.

17. Create keyword rich titles, show notes, etc for your podcast. And all that other SEO junk.